Harness arrangement for a loom

ABSTRACT

Two horizontal parallel heddle rails connected by heddles have center portions secured to a single vertical supporting rod whose lower end is engaged by an oscillating cam follower so that the heddle rails and heddles are reciprocated with the single supporting rod. The ends of the heddle rails are preferably guided in vertical grooves of stationary vertical guide bars.

[ 1 HARNESS ARRANGEMENT FOR A LOOM [76] Inventor: Jakob Miiller, 5262Frick,Aargau,

Switzerland [22] Filed: Apr. 21, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 246,416

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 23, 1971 Switzerland 5914/71[52] US. Cl 139/79, 139/82, 139/91 [51] Int. (11...... D03d 5/00, D0309/06, D030 13/00 [58] Field of Search 139/78, 79, 82, 57, 58, 139/91, 92

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,752,194 .8/1973 Griffith139/79 3,693,667 9/1972 Arnold 139/91 2,510,404 6/1950 Lake et a1 139/823,603,351 9/1971 Piazzolla 139/79 3,695,304 10/1972 Menegatto 139/782,944,571 7/1960 Pfarrwaller 139/91 3,020,930 2/1962 Pfarrwaller 139/8296,564 11/1869 Duckworth.... 139/58 X 993,685 5/1911 Holmes 139/913,169,555 2/1965 Koyder et a1. 139/91 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS388,216 6/1965 Switzerland 139/82 629,502 7/1927 France 139/82 PrimaryExaminer,lames Kee Chi Attorney, Agent, or FirmMichae1 S. Striker [5 7]ABSTRACT Two horizontal parallel heddle rails connected by heddles havecenter portions secured to a single vertical supporting rod whose lowerend is engaged by an oscillating cam follower so that the heddle railsand heddles are reciprocated with the single supporting rod. The ends ofthe heddle rails are preferably guided in vertical grooves of stationaryvertical guide bars.

7'Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEB WAR 1 2 I974 SHEET 2 OF 2 .4. J l LHARNESS ARRANGEMENT FOR A LOOM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is knownthat in looms for weaving one, or several bands or ribbonssimultaneously, the heddles are mounted on heddle rails which arearranged in a harness frame. The disadvantage of prior art apparatus isthe great weight of the harness frames. In order to obtain high weavingspeeds, it is of greatest importance that the weight of the harnessframes is low. Another disadvantage of the harness frames according tothe prior art is that the vertical supporting rods, which also serve asguides, are spaced far from each other. As a result, the harness framescannot be accurately guided during reciprocation, and a jamming oredging of the harness frame may occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the object of the invention to overcomethe disadvantages of the harness arrangements of known looms, and toprovide a harness arrangement which has low weight and inertia, and doesnotedge or jamm in guide means.

Another object of the invention is to provide a harncss arrangementwhich can be reciprocated at very high speed.

With these objects in view, the present invention provides a singlereciprocated supporting rod, to which at least two heddle rails aresecured, extending perpendicularly to the supporting rod.

The supporting rod is directly engaged by the drive means andreciprocated in a vertical direction, also serving as a guide rod, andthe possibility of jamming of a harness frame in guide means iseliminated.

Preferably, a supporting rod consisting of a profile bar is used so thatthe weight of the supporting rod is reduced while the supporting barnevertheless has high rigidity. It is advantageous to mount the heddlerails on the supporting rod by clamping attaching means, so that theworn heddle rails can be exchanged.

In the preferred embodiment, the drive means include an oscillating camfollower lever engaging a first portion of the supporting rod for movingthe supporting rod and heddle rails in a first stroke, and a secondportion engaged by a spring. The first and second portions are spacedtransversely to a plane passing through the supporting rod and theheddle rails so that a turning moment acts on the supporting rod and theheddle rails against the force exerted by warp threads moving throughthe heddles, so that friction is reduced.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the harness arrangement illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary schematic front view illustrating a modificationof the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary schematic plan view of the modified embodimentof FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary schematic front view illustrating anothermodification of the embodiment of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary schematic plan view of the modification shown inFIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring first to FIGS. 1 and2, a vertical supporting rod 1, which has U-shaped cross section,supports two horizontal heddle rails 2 connected by heddles 4 which haveloops at the ends through which the heddle rails 2 pass. The upperheddle rails 2 is slightly wider than the lower heddle rail 2 so thatthe upper loops of the heddles 4 surround the heddle rails 2 almostwithout play.

The center portions of the two heddle rails are secured to thesupporting rod 1 by U-shaped clamps 3 and screws, not shown, permittinga detachment of worn heddle rails 2, and replacement by new heddlerails. The clamps 3 are located within the opening formed by the legs ofthe U-shaped supporting rod 1. A pair of guide bars 10 is provided withlongitudinal grooves in which the free ends of the heddle rails 2 areThe lower end of supporting rod 1 carries a bracket 5 with lateral walls5a between which pins 6 and 6a are mounted. A spring 9 is secured to pin6a and to the base 15, and since the pins 6 and 6a are spaced from eachother transversely to a plane passing through the supporting rod 1 andthe heddle rails 2, the forces applied on pin 6 by the driven lever 7and on pin 6a by the spring 9, produce a turning moment tending to turnsupporting rod 1 with heddle rails 2 and heddles 4 in a direction whichis opposite to the direction of the force applied to the heddles 4 bywarp threads 14 moving through the heddle eyes in the direction of arrowX. In this manner, friction, particularly of the free ends of the heddlerails 2 in the vertical guide bars 10 is reduced.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a modified construction in which instead of thegrooved guide bars 10, several guide blocks l0, 10" with grooves 100 areprovided. By guiding the outer ends of the heddle rails 2, vibrations ofthe supporting rod 3 are prevented even at high operational speeds.

The modification of FIGS. 5 and 6 includes vertical slide rods 11secured to the ends of the two heddle rails 2 and being guided incorresponding grooves 12a of guide members 12. Slide rods 11 arepreferably detachably secured to the heddle rails 2, and increase therigidity of the heddle rails 2.

If it is necessary to provide heddle rails 2 of very great length, aconnecting rod 13 can be secured to the heddle rails 2 and increases thestiffness and rigidity of the heddle rails 2.

During operation, shaft rotates cam 8 so that follower lever 7 isreciprocated and raises by engagement of pin 6, supporting rod 1 withheddle rails 2 and heddle rails 4 so that the warp threads passingthrough the eyes of the heddles 4 are raised to form a shed. When theangular position of cam 8 permits turning of cam follower lever 7 incounterclockwise direction about pivot 7a, the spring 9 pulls bracket 5with supporting rod ll down so that the heddle rails 2 also movedownwardly with heddles 4 and the warp threads 114 passing through thesame. A slight turning moment in clockwise direction is exerted by lever7 and spring 9 on bracket 5 and supporting rod 1 to urge the heddlerails 2 toward the right as viewed in FIG. 2 to oppose the pull of thewarp threads 14 passing through the eyelets of the heddles 4 in adirection of the arrow X.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofharness arrangements differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in aharness for a ribbon loom having a single reciprocating supporting rod,and at least two horizontal heddle rails secured to the supporting rod,and being reciprocated by drive means, it is not in tended to be limitedto the details shown, since various modifications and structural changesmay be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the presentinvention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this inventionand, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent isset forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A harness arrangement for a loom comprising a single supporting rod;at least two heddle rails extending perpendicularly to said supportingrod spaced from each other along said supporting rod, and having cen'tral portions secured to said supporting rod and outer ends; heddlesextending between said heddle rails and having end portions attached tosaid heddle rails; a pair of elongated stationary guide means parallelwith said supporting rod and slidingly engaging said outer ends of saidoajsKd heddle rails for guiding said heddle rails with said supportingrod; drive means connected with said supporting rod for reciprocatingsaid supporting rod in longitudinal direction with said two heddle railswhile said outer ends thereof are guided by said stationary guide means,said drive means including a driven reciprocating member engaging afirst portion of said supporting rod for moving said supporting rod in afirst stroke in one longitudinal direction, and a spring means engaginga second portion of said supporting rod for moving said supporting rodin a second stroke in the opposite longitudinal direction, said firstand second portions being spaced transversely to a plane passing throughsaid supporting rod and said heddle rails so that a turning moment actson said supporting rod and said heddle rails and heddles, reducing thefriction between said outer ends of said heddle rails and saidstationary guide means.

2. Harness arrangement as claimed in claim 1 comprising two slide rodssecured to said ends of said heddle rails and being guided by saidelongated guide means during reciprocating movement.

3. Harness arrangement as claimed in claim 2 wherein said elongatedguide means are guide bars having longitudinal grooves slidablyreceiving said slide rods for guiding said heddle rails and supportingrod during reciprocating movement.

4. Harness arrangement as claimed in claia 1 wherein said first andsecond portions of said supporting rod are first and second pinstransverse to said supporting rod and parallel to said heddle rails; andwherein said drive means include a reciprocating cam followercooperating with said first pin.

5. Harness arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein said end portionsof said heddles are loops receiving said heddle rails; and wherein atleast the loops on one of said heddle rails fits on said heddle rails sothat said heddles reciprocate with said heddle rails almost withoutplay.

6. Harness arrangement as claimed in claim 1 including at least onereinforcing rod detachably connecting said heddle rails spaced from saidends, and being parallel to said supporting rod.

7. Harness arrangement as claimed in claim 1 comprising attaching meansfor securing said center portions of said heddle rails detachably tosaid supporting

1. A harness arrangement for a loom comprising a single supporting rod; at least two heddle rails extending perpendicularly to said supporting rod spaced from each other along said supporting rod, and having central portions secured to said supporting rod and outer ends; heddles extending between said heddle rails and having end portions attached to said heddle rails; a pair of elongated stationary guide means parallel with said supporting rod and slidingly engaging said outer ends of said oajsKd heddle rails for guiding said heddle rails with said supporting rod; drive means connected with said supporting rod for reciprocating said supporting rod in longitudinal direction with said two heddle rails while said outer ends thereof are guided by said stationary guide means, said drive means including a driven reciprocating member engaging a first portion of said supporting rod for moving said supporting rod in a first stroke in one longitudinal direction, and a spring means engaging a second portion of said supporting rod for moving said supporting rod in a second stroke in the opposite longitudinal direction, said first and second portions being spaced transversely to a plane passing through said supporting rod and said heddle rails so that a turning moment acts on said supporting rod and said heddle rails and heddles, reducing the friction between said outer ends of said heddle rails and said stationary guide means.
 2. Harness arrangement as claimed in claim 1 comprising two slide rods secured to said ends of said heddle rails and being guided by said elongated guide means during reciprocating movement.
 3. Harness arrangement as claimed in claim 2 wherein said elongated guide means are guide bars having longitudinal grooves slidably receiving said slide rods for guiding said heddle rails and supporting rod during reciprocating movement.
 4. Harness arrangement as claimed in claia 1 wherein said first and second portions of said supporting rod are first and second pins transverse to said supporting rod and parallel to said heddle rails; and wherein said drive means include a reciprocating cam follower cooperating with said first pin.
 5. Harness arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein said end portions of said heddles are loops receiving said heddle rails; and wherein at least the loops on one of said heddle rails fits on said heddle rails so that said heddles reciprocate with said heddle rails almost without play.
 6. Harness arrangement as claimed in claim 1 including at least one reinforcing rod detachably connecting said heddle rails spaced from saiD ends, and being parallel to said supporting rod.
 7. Harness arrangement as claimed in claim 1 comprising attaching means for securing said center portions of said heddle rails detachably to said supporting bar. 